It's amazing what a few words can do to a man. Just to be clear, this is not a notice that this story will be on hiatus. It's not an actual chapter either, so I apologize for that. I know I've been putting a lot of my works on hold, which I am sorry for, but there's only so much I can do. Let me assure you that this story in particular will be completed. I just don't know how long that may take.

I wanted to take a moment to share what's been on my mind.

First of all, the latest chapter. I was quite happy with it, but then the response came in and I was more disappointed with myself than happy. I got so excited that I didn't even run the draft by my beta reader, which was quite rash of me. They went on to express their disappointment in me and the quality of the chapter. What's done has been done though. My execution was bad, but I did accomplish what I wanted. Regardless, I learned my lesson and will work on my execution of my tale, which is one of my greatest issues.

Which leads me to the next topic. Despite having someone to assist me now, my work isn't perfect. I don't intend to go back and revise chapters as they're a part of my journey with this story. I considered starting over since there are plenty of things I'd like to go back and change, but I simply don't have time for it. For those of you that don't know, I'm enlisting in the military in the next few months. Which means I'll have little to no time for writing. I don't think I'll complete this story by the time I leave for boot camp, but it will be eventually.

Now for the story itself. I have a plan in my head for everything regarding character arcs, plot, and all that jazz. However, I grow more and more disconnected when I see mistakes and other things I'd like to change. This only adds to the amount of time until the next chapter is released. I'm not entirely happy with this story, but I'm content with what I did manage to do right and with what's yet to come. So, everything will continue as originally planned, but the time between chapters will increase since I need to coordinate with my beta reader to make sure the quality of my content is as refined as possible. This means fewer chapters until I have to take a break from writing, but I intend to finish the tale nevertheless.

I know Jaune is hard to root for at times. I feel like my execution was butchered at best. Some of you have suggested that I should've gotten into his past right from the start, but I wanted to go with the approach of keeping it a mystery and wonder why he's like this. That clearly backfired, and it would've helped you all if you understood where he was coming from in the first place. If anything, the method I used was probably better for an antagonist. I ask of you that are willing to stick around until the end to give me a chance and offer your thoughts afterwards. I know this isn't perfect, but that's the point of me writing here. I want to hone my craft as I work on more personal projects like novels.

Anyway, the last thing I wanted to go over...

Coeur Al'Aran, a writer I am sure all of you are familiar with has a story that features Jaune with a Nullification semblance. However, our premises and execution on our tales are completely different. Some of you recommended for me to read it to get some pointers on how I should've gone with my own story. I refrained from reading it out of fear it'd influence me to make changes. However, I finally gave in and read it. My god, it was far better than I was expecting. I won't spoil you, but chapters 26 and 27... Man, I want what I have planned to hit you just as hard.

My Jaune is meant to be broken while finding some redemption. His fallout with Velvet and strained friendship with Pyrrha are meant to highlight his start to change along with other things coming up. While Coeur's is going down a dark path. However, his execution was done splendidly. Despite what happens in the recent chapters, I can still empathize with Jaune. When I go back and read my own work, I do find it hard to agree with my own version of the character, but not in the way I'd initially hoped.

I'm not going to change upcoming plot points or anything of the sort. Let me be clear that I don't intend on stealing ideas from Coeur just to improve my own work. That's stupid and redundant. For those of you that accused me of stealing the premise... Just read out works and you'll see it's merely a specific semblance that links our works.

Again, I won't be rewriting anything. I just wanted to share my thoughts. My apologies for those of you excited for a new chapter. A lot of people have been sharing their thoughts, a few others sending threats again, but it was enough to convince me I should update you all on my plans. So yeah, I'm aiming for better chapters but it may take a while.

Until next chapter. Thank you for your time and continued support.

-Mute